Rugby league's balance of power is shifting. Officials from Australia's NRL have arrived in England to finalise a deal that would see the Australian competition invest heavily in Super League — the top division of the 13-a-side code in England — while taking authoritative control of how the competition is run (The Guardian).

Super League's leading official, Rhodri Jones, said he was hopeful of significant progress with the NRL within the next seven days. Multiple Super League clubs have already been visited by officials from Australia, or expect a visit in the coming days. NRL chairman Peter V'landys is set to sit down with English officials this weekend to iron out the details.

The NRL has made Super League investment its number one priority, and the financial muscle behind that ambition is considerable. In July, the Australian Rugby League Commission secured a record-breaking A$5.3 billion (£2.8 billion) media rights agreement with Foxtel Group, Nine and Sky — a deal the NRL itself described as setting "a new benchmark for Australian sport" (NRL.com).

Separately, Super League expects to confirm its own new-look broadcast deal within the next week. Sky Sports is expected to show two or three games a week, with the rest streamed or broadcast elsewhere.

Wigan Warriors, one of Super League's most decorated clubs, are fully behind the NRL tie-up. CEO Kris Radlinski — a former Wigan and Great Britain fullback — said the club is "100% supportive" of the deal, as it has been from the start. Wigan and Warrington Wolves were the first Super League clubs to make the trip to Las Vegas with the NRL in 2025, when the Australian competition staged fixtures at Allegiant Stadium.

Now the two clubs are taking Super League on the road again. Wigan and Warrington will meet at Leinster's RDS Arena in Dublin on Saturday 24 April 2027, in the first Super League fixture to be played in Ireland (BBC Sport). The match was announced by Radlinski, who also confirmed that Hull FC are in talks about moving a home game on Sunday 25 April to the same venue, turning the trip into a weekend-long Super League event.

The two clubs are hopeful of a capacity crowd of 20,000 in Dublin. Wigan are likely to ask former player Andy Farrell — now Ireland's head coach in rugby union, the 15-a-side code — to help promote the fixture, a crossover that reflects the shared roots of both games.

For fans of rugby league, the NRL's interest in Super League is a recognition that the English game has untapped value. Whether the deal delivers the investment and visibility Super League needs is the question that the coming week should go some way to answering.